• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Our Services
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Top Nav Social Icons

Mobile ID World

Mobile ID World

Identification Revolution

  • Mobile ID
    • What Is Mobile ID?
    • Identity Associations
    • Premier Partners
    • FAQ
  • News
  • Solutions
    • Behavioral
    • Facial Recognition
    • Fingerprint Biometrics
    • Iris Biometrics
    • Second Factor
    • Smart Cards
    • Smartphones
    • Vital
    • Voice
    • Wearable Tech
    • Other
  • Applications
    • Access Control
    • Cloud Technology
    • Commerce
    • Enterprise
    • Healthcare
    • Identification
    • Internet of Things
    • Law Enforcement
    • Strong Online Authentication
  • Exclusive
    • Interviews
    • Featured Articles
    • Podcasts
  • Companies
  • Events

Nigeria Suspends Mobile Service for 73 Million Unverified Identities

April 12, 2022

The government of Nigeria has ordered the country’s telecommunications providers to cut off mobile service for 73 million customers. The unprecedented move is intended to force residents and mobile operators to comply with a 2020 regulation that states that each SIM card needs to be paired with a Nigerian National Identity Number (NIN).

Nigeria Suspends Mobile Service for 73 Million Unverified Identities

President Muhammadu Buhari issued the order in December of 2020, though enforcement has been delayed several times due to complaints that the timelines were too short. However, it now seems that the government is unwilling to tolerate any more excuses for non-compliance, and is ordering the mobile operators to block calls to any SIM cards that have not yet been registered. Those affected will not be able to make calls until they complete the mandatory identity verification process, which includes NIN registration.

As it stands, Nigeria’s National Identity Management Commission has already handed out more than 78 million NINs, and those numbers have been linked to more than 125 million SIMs. Both the President and the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission are hoping that the new requirement will help mitigate fraud and cybercrime, and make it more difficult for criminals to communicate. In that regard, the country has been battling a wave of kidnapping and extortion, which is at least partially motivating the order that unregistered SIM cards must be disconnected.

The biometric registration program is also part of that crime prevention effort. To register for a NIN, Nigerian residents must submit personal information along with their fingerprints and a photo. A strong identity program should make it easier to track criminals and missing people within the country, and the mobile policy should further incentivize more people to enroll in the program. Nigeria already requires a NIN as proof of identification for those accessing key services like health insurance, voting, and bank accounts.

In the past, Nigerian mobile operators have faced massive fines (as large as $1 billion USD) for failing to comply with government SIM mandates. Nigeria started setting up its biometric ID program in 2019, with the help of $433 million in funding from the World Bank and fingerprint scanners from BIO-key. South Africa has also considered linking mobile numbers to biometrics, though Nigeria’s recent decision is a much more aggressive move in that direction.

Sources: All Africa and Capacity Media

Filed Under: Industry News Tagged With: anti-crime efforts, Biometric, biometric SIM registration, biometrics, Fingerprint biometrics, national ID programs, Nigeria, Nigeria NIN, Nigerian National Identity Management Commission, SIM registration

Related News & Articles

Precise Biometrics Partners with Infinity Optics, Boosts Security

Innovatrics Adds Semi-Active ‘Smile Liveness’ to Digital Onboarding Toolkit

Ping Identity Predicts Ascent of Facial Biometrics, Blockchain Identities in 2018

Primary Sidebar

Register For the Next Virtual Identity Summit

Register now!

Tweets

Sponsored Links

facetec logo

FaceTec’s patented, industry-leading 3D Face Authentication software anchors digital identity, creating a chain of trust from user onboarding to ongoing authentication on all modern smart devices and webcams. FaceTec’s 3D FaceMaps™ make trusted, remote identity verification finally possible. As the only technology backed by a persistent spoof bounty program and NIST/iBeta Certified Liveness Detection, FaceTec is the global standard for Liveness and 3D Face Matching with millions of users on six continents in financial services, border security, transportation, blockchain, e-voting, social networks, online dating and more. www.facetec.com

FACEPHI is a global leader in Facial Recognition technology and in Mobile Biometrics technologies. With a strong concentration in the financial sector, FacePhi’s product is rapidly becoming a service used by banks all over the world. Its implementation doesn’t just save money, it is also a way to attract clients and build loyalty, while increasing the security of transactions for both the customer and the business. To learn more about FacePhi, visit https://www.facephi.com/en/

Recent Posts

  • Thai Authorities Approve Mobile ID for Airport Boarding
  • New Yoti Solution Ties Biometrics to e-Signatures
  • Kenya’s New President Pushes for Digital ID By Year’s End
  • MDL, Digital ID Gain Momentum in State Efforts
  • Brazil-based Selfie Onboarding Startup Reports 250% Sales Jump, Global Expansion

Footer

  • About Us
  • Company Directory
  • Advertise With Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Archives
  • CCPA: Do not sell my personal info.

Follow Us

Copyright © 2023 MobileIDWorld